Human, Animal, and Environmental Health

Whether you’re growing vegetables, herbs, or annual flowers, starting seeds indoors is an affordable and rewarding way to jump-start the growing season. Join the Queen Anne's County Master Gardeners for a hands-on class on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 10 am at the Queen Anne's County Library in Kent Island (200 Library Circle, Stevensville, MD 21666) as we guide you through growing healthy seedlings.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this activity, please contact your local University of Maryland Extension Office, Rachel Rhodes (410) 758-0166 or rjrhodes@umd.edu by February 21, 2026.

University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.

Join us as Andi Pupke, Education Director with Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage, as we learn about enriching our landscapes to create monarch habitat. This interactive class will discuss selecting the best plants to provide habitat throughout the growing season. This event is free and open to the public.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this activity please contact your local University of Maryland Extension Office, Rachel Rhodes (410) 758-0166 or rjrhodes@umd.edu by February 5, 2026.

University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.

Join the Queen Anne's County Master Gardeners during our monthly meeting as Concetta Gibson, President of Wild Ones Delmarva, discusses the ins and outs of container gardening with native plants. Concetta will guide us through selecting the right containers for the right plants, as well as layout, arrangement, and maintenance. This event is free and open to the public.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this activity, please contact your local University of Maryland Extension Office, Rachel Rhodes (410) 758-0166 or rjrhodes@umd.edu by January 1, 2026.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this activity please contact your local University of Maryland Extension Office, Rachel Rhodes (410) 758-0166 or rjrhodes@umd.edu by January 1, 2026.

The event will be held at the Queen Anne’s County 4-H Park on Route 18 (https://www.qacfair.com/directions) to kick-off the spring planting season.
General attendance is free, doors open at 7:30 am and programming will begin at 8:00 am. It's a great opportunity to network with other farmers and ag businesses. Credits for Nutrient Management, Pesticide Recertification and Certified Crop Advisors will be offered. Lunch will be provided.

As in past years, we are seeking sponsorships to help offset the cost of lunch for attendees. Sponsors will be given display space as well as space in the program to inform attendees of any new products and/or services. See Eventbrite page for sponsorship opportunities.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Caroline Welch at University of Maryland Extension - Queen Anne's County at 410-758-0166 or cwelch13@umd.edu by February 13, 2026.

Zoom Webinar

Join us for the 2025 Mary Shorb Lecture in Nutrition given by Dr. Leena Hilakivi-Clarke. The lecture will be on gut dysbiosis as a mediator of increased breast cancer in female offspring born to obese mothers.

The Mary Shorb Lecture in Nutrition is a jointly hosted event by the Department of Nutrition and Food Science and the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences. Over 47 esteemed speakers have presented since its start in 1970.

The 2025 Mary Shorb Lecturer is Dr. Leena Hilakivi-Clarke. She is a professor and assistant director for Faculty Affairs at the Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota. Hilakivi-Clarke's current research interests focus on women's health, including studying interactions among exosome, gut microbiome, and breast cancer. She has published over 180 scientific papers and trained nearly 90 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty in her laboratory.

There will be a reception from 1:45 to 2:45 following the lecture.

Stop by the library with all your questions about gardening, garden pests, plant problems, and insects. Master Gardeners will be on hand to give tips and tricks to make your home garden flourish, help troubleshoot tricky growing situations and offer encouragement on creating the perfect garden for your space. This month’s topic is “Holiday Houseplants”.

Join us first at the Wicomico Extension Office for a hands-on cooking session featuring flavorful mediterranean, celebration worthy dishes. After, enjoy a guided tour of a local mediterranean market, where you’ll explore a wide variety of healthy, nutritious ingredients that will bring global flavors to your table. Participants must have their own transportation to travel from the cooking demo to the Mediterranean market.

Details:

• - Participants are responsible for their own transportation from the cooking demonstration to the Mediterranean market.
• - Open to all ages 18 and up. Ages 15 and up welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian.All attendees must have a ticket. Due to space limitations, this includes parents/guardians.
• - Space is limited—reserve your spot early!

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these workshops, please contact Lynn Matava by October 28 at (410) 749-6141.

University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.

Dining with Diabetes is an evidence-based, national Extension program for adults with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes and their families that teaches healthy meal planning and other self-management skills to help control this disease. This VIRTUAL series will run Wednesdays in October & November from 6-8 PM.  Participants are encouraged to attend all 4 sessions to benefit from this program. 

Wednesdays: October 8, 15, 29, & Nov 5 from 6-8 PM

There will also be a 3 Month follow up session: Wednesday, February 4 from 6-8 PM

Dining with Diabetes is an evidence-based, national Extension program for adults with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes and their families that teaches healthy meal planning and other self-management skills to help control this disease. Diet is an essential component of diabetes management along with physical activity, medication, and monitoring. Participants learn how to prepare healthy, well-balanced meals, incorporate physical activity into their lifestyle, and monitor their ‘numbers’.

The Dining with Diabetes curriculum has been reviewed and certified by the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (ADCES) as meeting the 7 Self-Care Behaviors, which are essential for successful and effective diabetes self-management: Healthy Eating, Being Active, Monitoring, Taking Medication, Problem Solving, Healthy coping, and Reducing Risks.

This image courtesy of the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (ADCES)
 

Dining with Diabetes complements and does not replace other diabetes education and management programs. It includes a series of four weekly, 2-hour sessions and a three-month follow up class. Each class offers a food demonstration and tasting, discussions regarding important information, recipes, and other resources to help manage diabetes.

You are encouraged to attend all the sessions to gain the benefits from this program.
Participants will learn:

• Menu planning
• Carbohydrate counting
• Portion control
• Label reading
• Healthy fats
• Importance of fiber in managing diabetes

*Note: Individual meal plans are not provided.

Who should attend the Dining with Diabetes program? The program is available to anyone, 18 years or older who is:

• at-risk for or currently has type 2 diabetes
• has pre-diabetes
• a family member or caregiver who provides support for someone with type 2 diabetes
• interested in learning more about managing and preventing type 2 diabetes                                                                                               

University programs, activities, and facilities are available to all without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, national origin, political affiliation, physical or mental disability, religion, protected veteran status, genetic information, personal appearance, or any other legally protected class.
 

Visit the Fall Home & Garden Show during one of the afternoons to attend our free presentations about Native Plants (10/17 at 2pm), Putting Your Garden to Bed (10/18 at 2pm), Winter Sowing (10/18 at 3pm), Compost (10/19 at 2pm), and Growing Herbs Indoors (10/19 at 3pm). Winter sowing demonstrations 10/18 at the 15th minute of each hour. Find us at booth 809 to learn the tips and techniques for this easy, cheap and reliable way of growing native plants and early season vegetables.